The legendary puppet workshop Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in Queens, New York City has opened its doors to the public for the first time, offering fans a rare look inside the world of puppet making and character design.
The new guided tours allow visitors to explore the creative space where many famous children’s characters are built. The 80-minute experience takes place on Saturdays and costs $150 per person.
During the visit, guests first enter a special display room filled with iconic props and characters. This is the only area where photography and videos are allowed.
Exhibits include Oscar the Grouch sitting in his trash can surrounded by props, a dark throne from The Dark Crystal, and a life-sized working puppet of Junior Gorg from Fraggle Rock, which requires multiple performers to operate.
Inside the main workshop, visitors can see how puppets and costumes are carefully built. However, photography is not allowed in this area because many items are still in progress or confidential designs.
The company’s creative supervisor Jason Weber said the tour highlights the skill of the artisans. He explained that every piece is handmade by trained experts and is not mass-produced.
The workshop also director Melissa Creighton said everything created there is fully custom and made with detailed craftsmanship.
The shop has created puppets and costumes for many well-known productions, including Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Where the Wild Things Are, and the TV series Dinosaurs.
Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, originally founded the workshop in the 1960s in Manhattan. He also created beloved characters from Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. He passed away in 1990.
Today, the Muppets are owned by Disney, while Sesame Workshop controls characters like Big Bird and Cookie Monster.
The company moved several times in New York before settling in Queens in 2009. It also operates a workshop in Los Angeles, but that location does not offer public tours.
Staff at the Queens studio are currently working on new projects, including a Fraggle Rock stage musical set to open near Times Square soon.
Puppet builder Sierra Schoening said working at the shop was a lifelong dream, inspired by films like The Labyrinth, and described the work as bringing creative illusions to life.
